About Me

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

This original page captures all the classic hallmarks of an Alfredo Alcala comic art. Intricate cross-hatchings, lush brush strokes, superior light and shade treatrment, and over-all magnificent composition. Published in the Universal Komiks, 1971. Story by Pablo S. Gomez.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

One of my most favorite pages in my collection of original comic art: Alex Nino's first published artwork in the Graphic Arts Service, Inc.(GASI), circa 1966. In this amazing page Alex had summoned all the dark creatures of Philippine lower mythology for a story concepted by the Father of Philippine Komiks, Tony Velasquez. You can see them all here in this rare grand reunion ocassion: The Kapre, the Manananggal, the Aswang, the Dwende, the Tiyanak, and the Tikbalang. Tony Velasquez' opinion on this artwork: "A work of a genius".

Monday, November 28, 2005

Two of my most favorite comic books are “Wasted” and “Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsa Zsa Zatturnah”. I remember I bought my first copies of these comic books in Comic Quest sometime in November 2003.Back then, I was wondering if I could find newly-published local comic books by Filipino artists, since most of the big-time artists have gone abroad to work in foreign publications. So when I found Wasted and Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah displayed in Comic Quest, I bought them immediately.Wasted was the creation of a very talented artist who, even at that time, was earning praise for his inking works in such prestigious titles as X-Men, Stone, Wetworks, High Roads, and Superman Birthright. His name was Gerry Alanguilan. Wasted is a comic book which I would like to call “classic”. It is one of the most violent and saddest stories I have ever read. It is a story of man who had lost his self-respect and went about in homicidal rage to avenge his frustrations against the world. My favorite scene in Wasted is the slow-motion fall of Eric from the building, after being hit by a sniper. Eric's panel by panel poetic epistle to his girlfriend Jenny-read as he falls from the building-was so dramatic and emotional. It is one of the most heart-rending letters I have ever read.

Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, meanwhile, is created by Carlo Vergara. I did not know him then, did not even know how he looked like. But his comic book downright floored me through so much laughter. One of the scenes, in which Ada was about to swallow the stone for the first time (Isubo mo na), was so tremendously funny, I literally had tears in my eyes from so much laughter. Indeed, Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah is as hilarious as any comic book you could ever read, so I marveled who this Carlo Vergara was. I looked into the back page (which usually gave some info on the author)…but there was scarcely anything about him there, except mentioning that he was a graphic designer and a former university lecturer. There was a picture of him, too. Alas, it must have been his picture when he was two years old! Anyway my curiosity got the better of me. I had been a regular follower of Gerry Alanguilan’s Komikero website since that time, and Gerry announced that his Komikero group was holding a Komiks Festival in San Pablo City on December 7, 2003, and one of guests was Carlo Vergara.I thought why not go there, meet Carlo and Gerry in person, as well as meet several other outstanding artists like Leinil Yu and Wilson Tortosa. The event was to be held on a Sunday, which was perfect, because I didn’t have work. Yet, on the last week prior to the festival, I was contacted by my best friend, asking me to be one of the ninongs for his newborn child. Of course, I could not say no, but I explained I would be late, since I already made up my mind to attend the Festival.On the early morning of December 7, true enough, I was on the way to San Pablo, carrying a backpack full of comic books: Wasted, Zsa-Zsa Zaturnnah, One Night in Purgatory, and several issues of Superman Birthright, which I planned to have signed by their artists.I arrived in San Pablo a little over twelve in the afternoon. I admired the exhibit set up by the Komikero group, and was finally able to meet GerryAlanguilan. I had some reservations asking Gerry to sign my comic books, since I still picture him in my mind as “hot-headed” Eric. Yet, on the contrary, he was very kind, humble, and soft-spoken. Since there were several people waiting in line to have their comic books signed by him, I did not push with my plan of interviewing him, and instead said thank you, and went to the table they set up to sell various indie comics. Indie comic books have a special place in my heart. I bought a copy of each, including Jonas Diego’s excellent Book of John, and of course, the zany and hilarious Crest Hutt Butt Shop, again by Gerry Alanguilan. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon when I met Carlo Vergara. He was wearing a yellow shirt and blue denims, and was sitting in one of the benches, doodling sketches on his notebook. I said “hi”, introduced myself, and told him I admired his work Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah and One Night in Purgatory. He thanked me for appreciating his works and we had a nice conversation. Then suddenly, he sketched a Zsa Zsa pin up in his notebook, and gave the page to me. I was very happy and told him I’d keep this memento of my favorite super gay heroine as long as I live.I went back to Manila, happy and contented having met many of my favorite younger artists there. Indeed, I feel proud on having befriended such talented artists as Gerry Alanguilan and Carlo Vergara, two prime movers in the Philippine comics industry today. Of course, now you know I'm a big fan of them.

Long before the era of the movie stars and showbiz celebrities, there already was a Philippine pop icon named Francisco Harabas, or more popularly known as Kenkoy.Kenkoy is your everyday funny man. He was a debonnair, bombastic, irreverent, hilarious, and best-loved.Francisco “Kenkoy” Harabas was born on the pages of Liwayway on January 11, 1929. Unlike us, however, he did not go through infancy and childhood, but was born straight from the conception of Romualdo Ramos and the brush and ink of Tony Velasquez.Kenkoy came into this world garbed with the latest fashion of his time, the Jazz Age of F. Scott Fitzgerald, where London-style checkered baggy pants (its hems as wide as one’s shoes), a sailor hat, and a double-breasted polo complete with suspenders, were the leimotifs of the age.Says Tony Velasquez: “Kenkoy is always pusturyoso…He wore suspenders even before Frank Chavez made them fashionable”

Born during the American period when Western influences were beginning to encroach into Filipino culture, Kenkoy adapted to the changing of his times, making fun of the old mores, and up-to date in the latest trappings of Western fashion. He mouthed the "pidgin" language fashionable among youth at that time, which was a mixture of Spanish, English and Tagalog languages. Resulting in what was later known as “Taglish” and “Spangalog”. Thus was born Kenkoy's trademark dialogues like Halo, how is yu?, watsamara (what's the matter), dats oret (that’s alright), nating duwing (doing nothing), okidoki (okeydokey), lets tek ewok (let’s take a walk), is beri nesesari, and bay gali.Even today, this mangling of the languages proved an effective technique of humor, recently used to comic effect by actor-comedian Jimmy Santos.

Kenkoy was always in a hilarious misadventure or “kabalbalan”: painting the town red, gate crashing into birthday feasts, attending carnivals and fairs, and, of course, courting Rosing, the immaculate and impeccable Manilena.Rosing was the epitome of the ideal and much romanticized Filipina. She would not be seen in anything other than the traditional baro't saya or the Sunday camisa y panuelo. She displayed the typical characteristic of a "Maria Clara”: timid, shy and impeccable, carinosa yet selosa, but who can also be matampuhin, and often demonstrates the Filipino value of pagpapahiwatig, which is to show emotions through non-verbal hints, without completely revealing her thoughts.The Kenkoy and Rosing romance was one of the most enduring and fascinating love story in the history of the print media, a tale that had always been loved by the Filipinos. It was a story made more interesting due to the conflict provided by Kenkoy’s perennial rival, Tirso S. Upot.Tirso was not the stereotype rival, however, because unlike Kenkoy, he was "guwapo". This makes his character lovable instead of being loathed. There were times when Tirso would get the full attention of Rosing, stealing the show from Kenkoy, to the great anger of our hero.Kenkoy and Tirso made elaborate schemes to trap each other, but for most of the times, these traps would always backfire to each other. Their comic rivalry for the attention of Rosing provided for most of the strip's early plot.Kenkoy and Rosing eventually got married and they had several children: Dayunyor Dyulie, Tsing, Doy, Dalisyosa, Etot, Nene, and Piching. They also adopted a child, the wily mute but cute Tsikiting Gubat.The Harabas family became the most read about family in the entire Philippines, and Filipinos loved to read their story. Their familial affairs mirrored the Filipino family in general, even before the time when Pinoy TV sitcom John and Marsha did the same in the 1970s.This is possibly the greatest difference of Kenkoy and pals with the other cartoon strips of his time, both foreign and local. While Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Blondie, Lil Abner, Popeye or Bugs Bunny, would forever be the same in accordance with their respective creators' original conceptions, Kenkoy and his pals would grow with the times, because theirs was a continuing story. They would get married, have children, their mores and actuations grow in accordance to the current trends of Filipino culture. Thus, in the 1960s when the suspenders, charol shoes, and the baggy pants became out of fashion, Kenkoy had shed them in favor of the more fashionable “beatles” pantalon, collared sport polo, and Converse rubber shoes.“Si Kenkoy ay laging nasa uso” said Velasquez.One thing about Kenkoy has not changed, however. It was his hairstyle, which remained slicked back and plastado as before, forever reflecting a four-paneled window. In fact, it is Kenkoy’s most recognizable trademark.

Perhaps only Rosing would retain her original look just as she first appeared in the Liwayway. Up to the 1960s and well into the 1990s (Di Ritarn of Kenkoy), when the mini-skirts were in fashion, she would still wear the traditional bakya and baro at saya. Indeed, her provinciana charactercould not be reconciled with the more outlandish attire of the modern times.

On October 29, 1991, on the 81st birthday anniversary of Kenkoy creator Tony Velasquez, a tribute was celebrated in Mnila Hotel to honor the great Kenkoy Harabas, with Senator Heherson Alvarez as Guest Speaker. The funny thing was that during the ceremonies, Senator Alvarez insisted on emceeing the tribute himself. He said “I am such a big fan of Kenkoy, and I won’t pass this opportunity to be an emcee to this important event”. He also pledged to sponsor Tony Velasquez as a National Artist of the Philippines. Today Kenkoy is already seventy-six years old, but he has not grown old, he is still here….debonnair, bombastic, irreverent, hilarious, and best-loved…..I could always figure him out from the great multitudes of other comic characters he had helped paved the way in the Philippine comics scene…He grins and says mischievously….”Bay Gali! watsamara?”

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

A year ago, I acquired this hitherto still unpublished work by Tony Velasquez entitled "Komiks in the Making" . Written and photographed by Tony Velasquez, this work is composed of 20 pages and personally bound into book form by him, sometime in the early 1960s during his term as General manager of the Graphic Arts Service, Inc.,(GASI).I am featuring it now in this blog, with the gracious permission of Mrs. Pilar Velasquez.In comic book publishing, the writer and the artist are considered the main creators of a komiks, yet there are many other people involved in its production, especially if the komiks has a large printing order, such as the GASI komiks (Pinoy Komiks, Pinoy Klasiks, Aliwan, Holiday, Pioneer, Teens Weekly).In this never before seen work, Tony Velasquez takes you on a tour to see how a comic book in GASI was created. One can now readily appreciate the meticulous and painstaking process behind publishing komiks.At that time, GASI was the largest publisher of comics in the Philippines. Its state of the art printing equipments, such as a stripping machine and a color separation machine (Vario Klischograph), were the first of their kinds to have been imported from abroad for local komiks publishing.Tony Velasquez invested great time and effort studying the latest technology in publishing comic books, frequently traveling to Germany, the United States, and Japan to study their methods and techniques. The result of these painstaking efforts was the eventual growth and development of the Philippine komiks industry. Indeed, Velasquez not only pioneered the comic strip in the Philippines, he also founded and developed our local komiks industry, thereby employing people by the thousands, from writers to illustrators, from editors to draftsmen, to distributors and agents.The numbered descriptions of the photographs are as exactly written by Tony Velasquez. Mrs. Velasquez told me that her husband himself photographed these pictures, with the exception of photo #2, which was taken from a tripod.The notes within the parentheses, in italics, are mine.

KOMIKS IN THE MAKING by TONY VELASQUEZ

1. Scriptwriting—A story idea is hatched and the writer, typical of the scores who contribute to the Graphic Arts Service, Inc, nurtures it into a script.

2. Story Conference—The story is conferred upon by the Board of Editors. Practicing self-censorship, the Board is partial to the story’s entertainment value- the clean, wholesome type.(Some komiks publishers skip this part of the process, jumping immediately to number 3. Tony Velasquez is seated in the middle, his brother Damy Velasquez to his left)

3. Editing- The accepted story goes thru the usual editing for improvement.

4. Illustration- The illustrator, one of the many highly paid artist-contributors of the Graphic Arts Service, Inc., interprets the story into pictures.

5. Lettering- Captions and dialogues are lettered in the panels and balloons respectively to complete the picture-story.

13. Plate-Making- Flats for inside pages are reproduced on offset plates. 4-color letterpress plates for covers are made by VARIO KLISCHOGRAPH- a recent acquisition of the Graphic Arts Service, Inc. (The GASI was the first publisher in the Philippines to acquire this state of the art equipment from Germany)

14. Printing- Deadline finds the plates on the Webendorfer Rotary Offset, here shown rolling out the tens of thousands of copies for one particular issue.

15. Distribution- Copies, ready for the homes, are distributed by the Circulation Department to newsboys and magazine stands.

The Original Cover of "Komiks in the Making". Dennis Villegas Personal Collection.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Here is a cool vintage original art page from Halakhak Komiks (1946): Francisco V. Coching's Bulalakaw, presumably the first male comic character he created. I think Bulalakaw is earlier than Hagibis by a few months.

I just loved the way Coching had drawn Bulalakaw! I could see a great improvement of his style here than his pre-war Marabini, although the latter is also very well illustrated.

Here, his light and shade technique, as well as his lush evocative brushwork, is just awesome. I could just equate Coching with the world's best. Pound for pound, Coching can match the best works of the great illustrators Alex Raymond, Hal Foster and Burne Hogarth. Could be, indeed...Coching makes me really proud to be a Filipino.

Oh, I'm sorry my scanner is too small for the whole original page to fit, so you get to see only the first two panels :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I received communication today that the reprint of the 1934 "Album ng Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy" is already out of stock in National Bookstore and Filbar's. Anyway, for those of you wish to buy a copy, and would like to read the first comic book printed in the Philippines , there are still a few copies left with me. You can contact me through my cellphone number 09155766643 or email me at philippinecollectibles@yahoo.com.The image featured above is its original printed cover. Originally priced at 30 centavos a copy, this comic book was first launched in 1934, written by Romualdo Ramos and illustrated by Tony Velasquez. It is a compilation of the early Kenkoy comic strips from 1929-34.

How much did Don Ramon Roces pay Ramos and Velasquez per issue of Kenkoy? They were paid 20 pesos per issue, which they split evenly. It was 1928, and the average daily wage was one peso, so the two were getting a hefty sum at that time.

Unfortunately, Ramos' untimely death in 1932 left Velasquez to write the scripts alone. Nevertheless, he still gave half of the comic strip's income to Ramos' widow for a whole year. He said "Yan ay utang na loob ko. Dapat lahat tayo ay nakakalam niyan" .Well, I'm hoping that this kind of equal sharing between writers and artists exists in present comic book publishing, even when the characters had been licensed to become a Telenovela or a movie. Kawawa naman ang mga artists. "Utang na loob" is indeeda wonderful Tagalog term without equal in any foreign language. Of course, you know what I mean.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

The fabled world of the Philippine Jungle-lord comic strip was created by Francisco Reyes, one of the pioneer Filipino comic illustrators.

Prior to his career as a comic artist, Reyes was a student at the UP School of Fine Arts, where his artworks greatly impressed his teacher Fernando Amorsolo. He won several awards in many art competitions.

Upon graduation in 1932, Reyes joined the Liwayway, where he served as a junior artist under Tony Velasquez. Later on, Reyes became the first art teacher of the young Francisco V. Coching.

On July 7, 1933, Reyes, in collaboration with writer Pedrito Reyes, created Kulafu, which was the first colored adventure strip, as well as the first two-page comic strip in the Philippines.

Heavily influenced by Edgar Rice Borrough's Tarzan, Kulafu's jungle-kingdom was set in the deep jungles of the southern Philippines, where he battled dragons, siukoy (mermen), and other mythical creatures.

Like Tarzan, Kulafu was reared by the great apes. He was not born there though. Early in the adventure, young Kulafu's parents hiked in the jungles. While stopping on a brook to drink water, the young boy was snatched by a gigantic bird, which dropped him in the bird's nest as food for her young. The young boy fell accidentally, and into the arms of the apes, who took the boy into their care since.

The boy grew up as a strong young man. Later in the adventure, he saved a civilized woman from being devoured by a cayman. Upon being asked his name, the young man replied "Kulafu, Kulafu". The woman thought that it was his name but it's supposedly a meaningless grunt he learned from the apes.

Kulafu became one of the most popular comic strips in the Philippines. It was translated into Bisaya, Bikolnon, Ilokano, and later, in Spanish in a South American magazine.

Kulafu became a household name. It had become so popular that a local wine company even purchased the right to make "Kulafu" as their brand name. Up to now, some 70 years after, Vino Kulafu is still selling well in the market.

In 1936, Pedrito Reyes was unfortunately disabled. The task of bringing the weekly story fell on Francisco, who managed to develop further the plot originally scripted by Pedrito. Francisco even made a sequel in 1940 called "Anak ni Kulafu".

During the Japanese Occupation, Reyes discontinued Kulafu, and instead worked as an artist for Shin-Seiki a Tagalog-Nippongo publication.

After the war, Reyes joined the Halakhak Komiks where he created another Kulafu-like character, Talahib.

Some of Reyes' later comic strips were Kilabot, Joe Safari, and Buhawi in 1947, Mahiwagang Sinulid in 1949, Ogganda in 1964,Dagog in 1967, Sphinx in 1969, all of which were written by Clodualdo del Mundo.

In 1991, a retrospective art exhibit was held at the Philamlife Theater, as a tribute to this great Filipino comic artist. Featured in the exhibit were his paintings, and of course, Kulafu original comic art.

The art featured above is one of the most special pieces in my collection of original Filipino comic art. It is from a 1935 issue of the Liwayway, in an episode called "Kulafu sa Ibang Daigdig". I have purchased this art some years ago from an art dealer who managed to purchase a great number of Reyes' artworks in the 1991 exhibit.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

I have never met him in person since even before I started collecting old komiks, he was already living in the United States. Yet, through my frequent talks and casual conversations with his friends here in the Philippines, I was able to gather some interesting anecdotes about this highly talented illustrator.

First of all, Alfredo Alcala may have been the fastest komiks illustrator during his time in Ace. He was able to churn out hundreds of pages for his weekly assignments in several komiks companies. Back then, a komiks artist was not tied to any particular komiks publisher, and he can work in as many komiks publisher as he can be able to. Alcala's legendary speed, however, did not compromise his work, and he produced magnificent page after page of komiks masterpieces, giving his publishers a good worth of their money. Alfredo was known to sleep on his drawing board, for only three hours. His friend Federico Javinal even noted that Alfredo had a portable urinal in case of emergency. He never wanted call of nature to disturb even a few minutes of his precious time.

Alfredo was known to have collected several reference books to develop his mastery of his art. He frequently visited National Bookstore to buy just every coffe table book about American and European illustrators. He did not care how much it cost as long as he had enough money in his pocket.

One time, Alfredo was browsing an expensive book about American illustrators, and the inhospitable sales clerk approached him telling him to please be careful in handling the book, as it was very expensive. Alfredo was known for his congenial manner, but he could not just let this insult pass. "Ano palagay niya sakin, batang paslit? E ang dami dami ko na ngang binili dito e. Isa na nga yata ako sa nagpaunlad nitong National" a friend quoted him as saying.

Then he suddenly ripped several pages from the book, the ones containing the art of Dean Cornwell and J.C Leyendecker, saying to the clerk, "Don't worry I'm paying for the whole book. It's just these pages that I need". The shocked clerk accepted the money and Alfredo even told her to keep the change. And possibly the leftover of the expensive book.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

I recently looked up at the website Lambiek.net and found to my surprise that the biography of the Father of Philippine Komiks, Tony Velasquez, was not included in their profiles. Since there are literally thousands of comics artists in the world (past and present), the Dutch website usually relies on information given to them by artists themselves, or artists' families or friends.Anyway, I immediately composed a capsule biography of Tony Velasquez and emailed it at Lambiek's listed email address on October 27, two days prior to the 95th birth anniversay of Tony Velasquez. For further references about Tony Velasquez, I sent lambiek a link to this blog as well as a link to Gerry Alanguilan's Komikero website.On october 31, four days after my email, I checked Lambiek again, and lo! Tony Velasquez' biography is already uploaded on their profiles on the section "new additions to Lambiek". It would probably take a few more days for Velasquez' biography to be searchable in Lambiek.

I am very thankful to the Lambiek website for their immediate response to my request. I salute them for their untiring efforts to honor comics artists and writers the whole world over.

As of now, I'm writing several capsule biographies of Filipino comics artists and plan to forward it to Lambiek as additional profiles for their comiclopedia, as well as a support to their wonderful website.

Friday, November 04, 2005

In the olden days, when the almighty Television had not yet invaded the privacy of our homes, the komiks and the radyo-nobela were the favorite pastimes of the Filipinos.

Komiks had been an influential part of my childhood. My Tatay taught me how to read through komiks, and I learned easily and excitingly because I love the drawings in them, in contrast to my elementary textbooks that are not only hard and boring to read, but its scant drawings were unattractive and amateurish.

I remember that during lazy afternoons, I would be forced to sleep by my strict Lola, but not before we tuned in to our favorite afternoon radio show, Prinsipe Zimatar, aired over DZRH. After that, I would sleep with my eyes half-open, actually pretending to sleep, since I was jealous of the other kids I hear playing outside. Oh those were the days...when my Lolo and Lola were listening to Paeng Yabut's archive of old kundiman songs...

Anyway, back to Prinsipe Zimatar, I later learned from my Lola that it was actually a sequel to a more popular radio-nobela aired also in DZRH during the 1950s. Of course, I was not born yet at that time. This was Prinsipe Amante also by Clodualdo del Mundo, and it was later adapted into a movie starring the debonnair Rogelio dela Rosa in the title role. According to my book on film history, Prinsipe Amante(1951) was the first colored movie in the Philippines. It boasted in its movie poster "Filmed in Eastman Color".

Anyway, no copy of this film has survived to this day, and not even the CCP or the National Commission on Culture and Arts has a copy. Too bad....

I was digging through my collection of old komiks materials and I found an old copy of Aksiyon Komiks from 1950, the main story of which is a komiks adaptation of Prinsipe Amante as drawn by Alfredo Alcala.

Indeed, Prinsipe Amante was that popular! It can be heard over the radio, seen over the silver screen, or read in komiks. Later on, a comedy movie was even made starring Chiquito as "Prinsipe Abante".

Fortunately, I was able to preserve several issues of this Prinsipe Amante komiks, so that even if the movie or radio script-tapes could no longer be found, a future remake of Prinsipe Amante can be possible because of these surviving komik books.

I only deplore that the Philippine government do not make enough efforts to preserve our rich cultural heritage, which can be traced through old materials like films, books, newspapers, magazine, komiks, documents, etc. The problem is that we do not have an archive of films, komiks etc., so that only private collectors only have access to them and not the general public, scholars, and researchers.

Once collected, old Filipiniana materials can provide a fascinating view of our history, a sort of inheritance to us by our great ancestors. I believe that by preserving our culture, we can very well preserve our national identity, which at present, alas, is no longer very much Filipino.

A few months ago, a copy of Action Comics #1 had been auctioned off in eBay. Although the seller did not put a reserved price, at the end of the auction the comics reached a staggering amount of 45,000 U.S. dollars, despite the fact that the copy is not a very nice one and had been graded only 4 by CNC. The reason why this comic book is so expensive is because it is the first true Batman comic book, wherein the caped crusader first appeared.

Today I found an internet seller that offers a medium grade copy for a million U.S. dollars! Whew! Anyway this reminds me of a friend of mine who, in late 1980s found a nice copy of the Detective Comics #27.

Back then, we did not know that this comicbook contained the first comics appearance of Batman. Since there was no eBay then, or even the internet, he consigned it to a local antique shop. The tag price was P1,500 pesos, which seemed very expensive for us Filipinos.

A few months later, a knowledgable American tourist spotted it and bought it immediately. My friend thought he made a good deal out of it since he only bought that comics from a garage sale for 20 pesos! That comic book may have been left by G.Is in the country during the American occupation. The price of that comics today would be 200,000-500-000 U.S. dollars in good condition.